Management of myocardial infarction with Nonobstructive Coronary Arteries (MINOCA): a subset of acute coronary syndrome patients.

Myocardial infarction with non-obstructive coronary artery disease (MINOCA) represents a significant proportion (up to 15%) of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) population. MINOCA is diagnosed in patients who fullfilled the fourth universal definition of AMI in the absence of significant obstructive coronary artery disease on coronary angiography. MINOCA is a group of heterogeneous diseases with different pathophysiological mechanisms requiring multimodality imaging. Left ventriculography, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging and intra-coronary imaging (IVUS, OCT) are useful tools playing a pivotal role in the diagnostic work-up. There are no standard guidelines on the management of MINOCA patients and the therapeutic approach is personalized, thereby detecting the underlying aetiology is fundamental to initiate an early appropriate cause-targeted therapy.

Surfing the clinical trials of mesenchymal stem cell therapy in ischemic cardiomyopathy.

While existing remedies failed to fully address the consequences of heart failure, stem cell therapy has been introduced as a promising approach. The present review is a comprehensive appraisal of the impacts of using mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in clinical trials mainly conducted on ischemic cardiomyopathy. The benefits of MSC therapy for dysfunctional myocardium are likely attributed to numerous secreted paracrine factors and immunomodulatory effects. The positive outcomes associated with MSC therapy are scar size reduction, reverse remodeling, and angiogenesis. Also, a decreasing in the level of chronic inflammatory markers of heart failure progression like TNF-α is observed. The intense inflammatory reaction in the injured myocardial micro-environment predicts a poor response of scar tissue to MSC therapy. Subsequently, the interval delay between myocardial injury and MSC therapy is not yet determined. The optimal requested dose of cells ranges between 100 to 150 million cells. Allogenic MSCs have different advantages compared to autogenic cells and intra-myocardial injection is the preferred delivery route. The safety and efficacy of MSCs-based therapy have been confirmed in numerous studies, however several undefined parameters like route of administration, optimal timing, source of stem cells, and necessary dose are limiting the routine use of MSCs therapeutic approach in clinical practice. Lastly, pre-conditioning of MSCs and using of exosomes mediated MSCs or genetically modified MSCs may improve the overall therapeutic effect. Future prospective studies establishing a constant procedure for MSCs transplantation are required in order to apply MSC therapy in our daily clinical practice and subsequently improving the overall prognosis of ischemic heart failure patients.

Impact of Coronary Artery Disease and Percutaneous Coronary Intervention on Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation.

INTRODUCTION: The prevalence of coronary artery disease (CAD) detected in preoperative work-up for transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is high. Instead, the management of a concomitant CAD remains unclear. We evaluate the impact of CAD and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) on TAVI procedures. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted on 1336 consecutive patients who underwent TAVI in Toulouse University Hospital, Rangueil, France. The studied population was divided into 2 groups: CAD-TAVI group and No CAD-TAVI group. Then, the CAD-TAVI group was segregated into 2 subgroups: PCI-TAVI group and No PCI-TAVI group. In-hospital adverse clinical outcomes were assessed in each group. RESULTS: Pre-TAVI work-up revealed significant CAD in 36% of 1030 patients eligible for inclusion in the study. The overall prevalence of in-hospital death, stroke, major or life-threatening bleeding, minor bleeding, major vascular complications, minor vascular complications, pacemaker implantation, and acute kidney injury was 2.7%, 2.4%, 2.8%, 3.6%, 3.9%, 7.5%, 12.5%, and 2.7%, respectively. Among the studied population, 55% were admitted to the cardiac care unit. No significant statistical difference was observed between groups. Discussion. CAD-TAVI population was not more likely to develop in-hospital adverse clinical outcomes post-TAVI procedure compared to others. Also, no significant difference regarding in-hospital death was observed. In parallel, performing PCI prior to TAVI did not increase the risk of in-hospital death and complications. The difference in terms of the distribution of antithrombotic regimen may explain the higher prevalence of bleeding events in the PCI-TAVI group. CONCLUSION: This study provides direct clinical relevance useful in daily practice. No negative impact has been attributed to the presence of a concomitant CAD and/or preoperative PCI on the TAVI hospitalization period.